CliffsNotes on Melville's Moby-Dick (CliffsNotes on Literature) Paperback – November 6, 2000

If used properly this will really enhance your understanding of the book!

I recommend this version of Cliff Notes for Moby Dick. Melville's immense vocabulary and the style of language was a tough read.

My version bears the same ISBN-10 code and all the blurb appears to be identical to the 2000 printing. Mine is copyright 2001, it was purchased at Borders for $9.99. First off, I wanted a companion to share Moby Dick with as I read it. Not having that, I reached out to Cliff's Notes. I am glad that I purchased it, and would do so again. However, it was disappointing in the level of scholarship. I won't do a detailed rebuttal of the whole product here, but will focus on the glossary sections and the text analysis.The glossary sections are the weakest part of this book. They include words that are typically understood before one goes to college. Granted, vocabulary acquisition in the US is extremely variable. It can be variable among siblings in the same home. The glossary level seems to span elementary school level to perhaps high school.The text analysis is about at a junior high or high school level for the most part. That said, this level would still be challenging for many students at local area community colleges. Again, there is such a variation in learning in this country.For those reasons, I think this version of Cliff's Notes on Melville's Moby Dick, while a good addition to the home library, it is not a great addition. It can help younger or less experienced readers understand Moby Dick to a far better degree than most people in the United States. Considering the place that Moby Dick holds in American literature, anything that helps more people understand it, the better.

Moby dick is difficult to understand and work your way through. This is not cheating. you may need it as a simple way of navigating through this very difficult book. After reading it you can work at an interpretation on your own, first you need help just getting through chapter to chapter

Easy to read and understand. Easy to follow. I feel like I got a good grasp of Melville's work. Very good for class.

Kids, think of this as an ice cream sundae with only the vanilla film and a speck of fudge on the inside of the sundae glass. It'll be enough for you to report on the significant parts of the sundae in great detail to Mr. English Teacher, but you'll have none of the feeling of having eaten an ice cream sundae, perhaps the finest food on Earth, if not the finest thing. Let's call this a loan. Use old Cliff to get through the test, but promise yourself that you'll at least pull up a chair to the book when you have the chance.

A good aid to reading and understanding a classic

A lifesaver for any english student you wants to pass a hard test like this one.

Have you read the original book? No? Don't buy it, it won't ace that test for you. Sorry, you should have read it when your teacher assigned it. It might help you out if you read the original book diagonally while you wait for this one to arrive tough but I wouldn't bet on it.Have you read the original book a long time ago, remember the story for the most part but need a refresher on some bits? Buy it.This book won't make you an expert on Moby-Dick but it will help you understand it better. Easy to read, simple explanations, great glossary section, decent character descriptions and a good summary of the chapters.My one complaint is the size of the font. A touch bigger would help a lot. I understand they want the books to have few pages to make them look thin but thin also means without content and a small type can through people off. My two cents.

Cliffs Notes geben für jeweils 1-3 Kapitel eine kurze Zusammenfassung des Inhalts. Dazu kommt dann ein Abschnitt mit einer Analyse und zusätzlichen Informationen.Ich lese Moby Dick für ein paar Kapitel und am nächsten Tag starte ich dann zunächst mit den Notes. Dadurch wiederhole ich noch mal kurz, was ich gelesen habe und verstehe durch die Zusatzinformationen mehr vom Hintergrund. Das Lesevergnügen wird so (für mich) deutlich gesteigert und ich lerne und behalte mehr. Sehr empfehlenswert!Bern, 21.03.2009Stephan Wiesner